Director's Notes

Othello doesn't begin as a tragedy. Othello is a brave and noble soldier, he has a beautiful and loving wife, and he is being sent off to win an easy war and be a hero. What goes wrong? . . . Tragedy doesn't happen all at once. Little things become bigger things, become bigger things. People don't want tragedies to happen. When bad things happen, we try to fix them... It is the nature of classic tragedy that the same noble qualities that make a tragic hero a hero are the same qualities that cause his downfall. Othello has a supreme sense of justice. Once he believes that Desdemona is guilty, he feels it is his duty to kill her to maintain justice... Why does Shakespeare set this tale of a foreign island? Why does he frame this story with an occupation? What effect does such a tragedy have on a people who are occupied when the event is caused by the occupiers? An event such as this has an effect on one's whole community.

Time: Summer, 1574
Place: Venice, and the island of Cyprus

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